Press Release - April 26, 2016

Monday, April 25, 2016

Silicon Valley Gives: May 3 Fundraising Event Includes More Than 1,000 Community Charities

MOUNTAIN VIEW — Just one week remains before Silicon Valley Gives, the region’s 24-hour online giving day to support local charities. More than $4 million in matching gifts and prizes is available on May 3 to participating nonprofit organizations. More than 1,000 organizations are registered to participate.

Silicon Valley Gives – also called SVGives – is hosted by Silicon Valley Community Foundation with lead sponsorship from Microsoft. The event raises millions in charitable donations for nonprofit organizations in San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Benito counties during 24 hours of online giving. For a directory of participating nonprofits click here.

Events to celebrate the day will be held at Microsoft retail stores, selected Safeway markets and other locations on May 3. Anyone can support their favorite charities by making online contributions starting at just $10 at svgives.org.

“On May 3, SVGives provides the opportunity to make a bigger impact with your donations because of generous sponsors who are matching gifts and providing prizes that will benefit nonprofit organizations,” said Mari Ellen R. Loijens, SVCF’s chief business, development and brand officer.

For example, during the 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. hours, Skoll Foundation will provide $50,000 in dollar-for-dollar matches for donations to any participating nonprofit on a first come, first served basis, capped at $1,000 per nonprofit. Donors can track their favorite nonprofits’ progress throughout the day on live leaderboards; top performing nonprofits by dollars raised or unique donors will be eligible for $130,000 in prize grants from an anonymous donor and SVCF.

On May 3, SVGives volunteers will be onsite at the Microsoft stores at Westfield Valley Fair mall in Santa Clara, at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto and at the Westfield San Francisco Centre. Volunteers will also be present at three Safeway markets: at 3970 Rivermark Plaza in Santa Clara, at 1655 El Camino Real in San Mateo, and at 298 King Street in San Francisco.

SVGives would not be possible without the generosity of its sponsors, including Microsoft, Google, Silver Spring Networks and Symantec. View a complete list of sponsors. Recently added sponsors include Krishnan Shah Family Foundation, 1440 Foundation, Jill + Nicholas Woodman Foundation, Intuitive Surgical, NVIDIA and Twilio.org.

Media sponsors are NBC Bay Area, Silicon Valley Business Journal, San Francisco Magazine, New SV Media Inc., Bay Area News Group, The Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate.com and Metro Silicon Valley. The event is also being promoted through Pandora.

About Silicon Valley Community FoundationSilicon Valley Community Foundation advances innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems. As the largest community foundation in the world, we engage donors and corporations from Silicon Valley, across the country and around the globe to make our region and world better for all. Our passion for helping people and organizations achieve their philanthropic dreams has created a global philanthropic enterprise committed to the belief that possibilities start here. Learn more at siliconvalleycf.org.